Press Trust of India / Paradip (Orissa) Oct 09, 2009, 19:52 IST
A month after a Mongolian ship sank off the Orissa coast, the Paradip Port Trust today entrusted the job of clearing up leaking fuel oil from it to an American company Resolve Marine Group.
The work was awarded to Florida-based Resolve Marine Group on the basis of a global tender, PPT Chairman K Raghuramaiah told reporters here.
He said as the owners and managers of the sunken ship did not salvage it, the PPT had initiated legal action against them.
"Since the ship was not insured, no insurance firm could take up the salvage operation," he added.
The Energy & Research Institute (Teri), New Delhi and R&D of Indian Oil Corporation, has despatched microbes for clearing up the oil on the coast and in the water.
"The work on this front started today," Raghuramaiah said.
Another tender would be floated for lifting the ship, he added.
The Orissa government has asked PPT to remove the ship as it fell in the path of olive ridley turtles.
The American company was expected to start work within 10 days with the cost of the operation to clear the oil spill from the ship being Rs 17.50 crore, PPT sources said.
The ship Black Rose was carrying 975 tonne of iron ore fines besides fuel oil, when it sank.
WHO WILL BEAR THE COST OF CLEAN UP??
It is strange that Cargo Ship without Insurance cover is being allowed to sail and handle cargo.
In the present case, who is going to bear the cost of clean up, which is mounting to over Rs.20 crores?
Obviously, the Ship is responsible for the Oil leakage and its consequences and as such the Ship Owner is responsible to bear all expenses related to "Oil leak clean up".
But the question is "how to recover the cost from the Ship Owner"??
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